October 22, 2025

The need-to-know this morning

Alkermes announced the acquisition of Avadel Pharmaceuticals, maker of an approved sleep medicine, in a transaction valued at up to $2.1 billion.
Arcturus Therapeutics reported interim results from a mid-stage study of an mRNA-based treatment for cystic fibrosis that showed no improvement in lung function over 28 days.
Summit Therapeutics raised $500 million in a private placement, more than half of which is being bought by company insiders, including co-CEO Robert Duggan.

drug pricing

Startups pitch new ways to cover costly drugs

As pharma giants and President Trump push direct-to-consumer drug sales, startups are pitching employers on a new model to subsidize cash prices for branded medications such as Wegovy and Zepbound — bypassing insurance altogether.

The approach is designed to allow employers to spend less than traditional coverage would cost while giving workers partial relief from steep list prices. And interest is growing as employers balk at insuring pricey GLP-1 drugs, according to the startups. But the concern is that the model adds complexity and could shift more costs onto employees.

"This is what the PBMs do already," one health economics researcher told STAT's Elaine Chen. Employers could essentially replicate the model if, in their existing health plans, they pay less for drugs and shift more costs onto employees, he said. "It doesn't make sense to me. My brain is not seeing this as a solution."

CLINICAL TRIALS

Alector frontotemporal dementia drug fails trial

An experimental drug from Alector failed to slow the decline of patients with frontotemporal dementia in a late-stage study, the company announced yesterday.

The company said it would lay off 49% of its employees as a result.

The drug, called latozinemab, was one of several molecules to have entered clinical trials recently for frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, a form of dementia thought to affect around 50,000 to 60,000 Americans.

cancer

ctDNA tests show promise in tailoring cancer care

New data presented at ESMO bolster hopes that blood tests detecting circulating tumor DNA could help doctors decide which post-surgery cancer patients truly need additional treatment. In bladder cancer, patients testing negative for ctDNA after surgery had strikingly low recurrence and high survival rates without further therapy, suggesting many could safely skip toxic drugs.

"But it's still not zero risk of recurrence or death," one of the study's authors told reporters at ESMO. "I think we're still left with the question of how would you counsel a ctDNA-negative patient."

A colon cancer study was less conclusive, failing to meet its statistical goal but hinting that chemotherapy could be reduced for some. Together, the findings move ctDNA testing closer to guiding real-world care — though questions about false negatives and broader validation remain, STAT's Andrew Joseph writes.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Novo Foundation ousts board in power struggle

Novo Nordisk's controlling shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, moved to seize control of the drugmaker's board after a clash over strategy, prompting the resignation of Chair Helge Lund and six independent directors, Reuters writes.

The foundation plans to install former CEO Lars Rebien Sørensen as chair, signaling a sharper focus on the U.S. market. The move also underscores support for the company's new CEO, Mike Doustdar, and his push to restructure and cut costs.

The shake-up comes amid slumping Wegovy sales and intensifying competition from Eli Lilly, as Novo faces pressure to adapt faster in a "rapidly changing environment" for weight-loss drugs and U.S. drug pricing.

hiv/aids

Gilead halts drug price hikes for state AIDS drug programs

After months of tense talks, Gilead Sciences agreed not to raise prices next year on HIV drugs sold to state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, easing pressure on the safety-net agencies that serve 110,000 low-income Americans.

The company had planned high single-digit hikes for 2026, STAT's Ed Silverman writes, alarming programs already squeezed by flat federal funding and rising health costs.

Some are calling this freeze as a crucial reprieve, noting Gilead's medicines account for 60% of ADAP spending. Still, looming policy shifts, along with federal funding uncertainty and expected ACA premium increases could leave the programs financially strained despite the temporary relief.

startups

Flagship launches Expedition to tackle the undruggable

Flagship Pioneering has launched a new startup, Expedition Medicines — a biotech built around a generative AI and quantum chemistry platform. It's designed to crack so-called "undruggable" proteins, which are targets that have been long out of reach for traditional small molecules.

Backed by $50 million from Flagship after three years of internal incubation, the company has already kicked off a multi-target prostate cancer research effort under Flagship's partnership with Pfizer, aiming to develop novel therapies.

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